Caption Writing

Mellow with the Cello. Before playing her cello, sophmore Annie Lui takes a quick glance at her sheet music . The Orchestra played a rendition of Beethoven’s Fur Elise at their competition last May. They received first place and the best score from the judges overall. “ Orchestra rocks! We work together and create beautiful music, and that's why I love it!” Lui said. Photo by Julianna Lewis.

Last 4 Tips !!!

Finally! The last four tips!

7.) MOVE IT FROM THE MIDDLE

(Basically the Rule Of Thirds) move the subject off the center of the photo. This creates variety in the pictures and is not as monotonous as a simple centered picture.

8.) KNOW YOUR FLASHES RANGE!
You should know this because pictures beyond the maximum flash range are too dark. My point and shoot camera has a flash range of about 10 feet. (Most point and shoots flash range are around 10 feet.)

9.) WATCH THE LIGHT
Try to avoid overhead sunlight because this creates shadows on the subject. Use cloudy days to create great lit pictures. The best time to shoot these pictures is in the morning and at dusk.

 

10.) BE A PICTURE DIRECTOR

Add props and arrange the subjects and find different viewpoints. Tall people should be in the middle of a line and short people towards the ends.

BW plus One

Today in photojournalism, we learned how to take a colored picture and turn all of it into black and white except for one key focal point. This creates not only a cool effect, but also an amazing picture with great emphasis and wow-factor.

Next Three Compostition Tips!

 Hey! These are the next three composition tips in the top ten composition tips series!

4.) MOVE IN CLOSE- (FILL THE FRAME)
Move in close with your feet, then with your zoom. Also use your macro mode to get a crisp detailed picture. Filling the frame creates a more interesting picture and adds a wow factor to your photos.

5.) TAKE SOME VERTICAL PICTURES-
This technique can be used from taking pictures of tall architecture to just simple portraits of your friends. Many things may look better vertically, so just turn your camera and take a picture! Also trees and and other natural things look great vertically.

6.) LOCK THE FOCUS-
Use this to create a sharp focus on an off center subject. This helps your camera know the focus of the picture and produces a better picture.
   1- Center the subject
   2- Press the shutter button halfway
   3- Reframe your picture while still holding the shutter
   4- Press the shutter down all the way

Top Ten Composition Tips!!!

Hey guys! Today I will share with you the top ten tips of composition that I learned in photo journalism today.
1. GET DOWN ON THEIR LEVEL- This is for when taking pictures of kids and pets. This helps add personality. Remember, they don't have to be looking at the camera!

2. USE A PLAIN BACKGROUND- This helps to emphasize the subject because a cluttered background if distracting.

3. USE FLASH OUTDOORS- This can be used in bright sunlight to darken shadows and can also be used on cloudy days to brighten faces. You should use this when
a.) the subject is in a shadow
b.) if the subject is back lit and
c.) when the flash will reach them ( usually a ten to fifteen foot distance between the camera and the subject ).

My Photo walk!

So recently I went on a photo walk with my photo journalism class. On this walk we were told to take pictures that represent a few of the techniques we learned in class.
Techniques:
Leading Lines- which are real or implied lined that lead the viewers eye thru the photo.
Rule of Thirds- which is where you put a tic-tac-toe like grid on your picture and the focal area is in one of the intersections.
Interesting Perspective and Angles- these may include bird's eye and worm's eye.
Framing- is using a secondary element to highlight or emphasize the subject.
Appropriate focus- is where the subject of the photo is in focus but distracting or non-essential elements are not .

 I like this photo because the leading lines from the pathways and the buildings two levels. These lines lead into the focal point which is the globe in the center. These lines drastically add to the quality of this picture.

 This picture uses framing. The holes in the bench frame the two subjects exquisitely. It also uses the rules of thirds, in a sense, because one of the subjects is not directly in the middle but off to one side.

 This photo shows excellent use of leading lines. The lines not only come from the very obvious staircase, but also from the light rays coming through the window. The lines lead to the center of the photo which is somewhat a focal point.

Three Things I learned in photojournalism today!

There are three things I learned about photojournalism today that I would like to pass on to you.
-The word photograph is GREEK! And photo means light and graph means to draw.
-Also, photography was not discovered by one single person, but over years with contributions from many people.
-Lastly, that there are 'rules' in photography. For example, the rule of thirds in which you position the main point of your picture in one of the four intersections of a tic-tac-toe board on your picture.
I hope this new knowledge helps all you photojournalists out there, I know it helped me!

Remembering 9/11 & Photo Ethics

It's been a decade since 9/11, and to this day we are still remembering and mourning over that tragic day. The image chosen for this blog is from a 9/11 Tribute Page for its technical merit of the three fireman in all the ruble and debris patriotically lifting an American flag. The colors add to the beauty of the photograph with the vibrant blues and reds against the menacing gray color of the recently destroyed tower. This September 11th, I felt the media's attention to the subject was appropriate. I only watched the                     

memorial service on TV that was where the twin towers stood. It evoked the emotion of sadness in me because of all the youngsters who were talking about losing their parents. Although I cannot recall 9/11, my parents told me that I was young and that I was picked up early from school when news of the apparent terrorist attack spread. Something that i learned about the event that i did not know when I was younger was that the second plane was actually caught on camera crashing into the second tower.

              This new knowledge also ties in with the ethics of photography. I believe that many of the graphic images shown in print and TV definitely should have not been shown. I strongly believe this because it is not ethically correct to take a picture of someone dying or someone that has already died. Many images released showed pictures of people jumping out of the building to their certain death and even more photos were released of dead bodies being taken out of the ruble. Just imagine if you were a youngster (like I was at the time) sitting innocently in front of the television with your parents watching the tragic news and suddenly bloody images of fellow human beings appear, how could you not be scarred (or at least have nightmares for the better half of your childhood)? The media should not make these images public because it is disrespecting the family's of the victims as well as ruining the innocence of one's childhood. I also firmly believe that photojournalists have the moral obligation to turn away the camera. Once a photo is taken there's no way you can really completely get rid of it. Photojournalists should honor the victim's family by not taking the picture because if they do then that is how the victim's family will always remember their loved one in their moments before or in death. Also what human soul can endure the burden of watching anyone die in such a gruesome manner and let alone be captured in a picture that will forever be public to the world. Remember all of our fallen men and women this 9/11, and embrace the lives they lived and not the manner in which they died.

Hey World!

Hello everyone! This is my new blog that I made for my amazing photo journalism class at school! I also am uploading this collage that describes my life here! I hope all of you precious jewels enjoy!